Tallit - טלית

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Summary: It seems that all depictions of tallitot in manuscript illuminations and paintings during the medieval and early modern era do not depict any stripes. It therefore seems that the stripes were introduced into the European Jewish world with the import of tallitot from various parts of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the early modern period.…

Summary: It seems that during the 19th and early 20th century dark blue stripes were standard both in the Western and Eastern Askenazi world (similar to the new Belzer tallit). Many Eastern European tallit factories (such as Sudlikov, dependent on the supply of materials from Lodz) also produced black stripes but this seems to be caused…

Summary: Stripes are a very common decoration on garments in the Middle East and the only thing that makes a garment “Jewish” are really the tzitzit on the four corners. Above comments courtesy: Simon Stoklasa

The details of the garments represented in the Dura-Europos synagogue frescoes match very well with clothing depicted in Byzantine Chiristian images dating from the 3rd to 8th century (with the exception of tzitzit). The tunics are angusticlavia, a narrow-strip tunic (tunica) with two narrow vertical Tyrian purple stripes (clavi). This tunic was typically worn under the…